Kornacki: Metellus Reveals How His 73-Yard Pick-Six Almost Never Happened
9/15/2018 11:45:00 PM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- On the play that changed the game, Wolverine strong safety Josh Metellus motioned to defensive backs coach Chris Partridge that he wanted to come out.
Had Partridge granted that wish, the 73-yard interception return that Metellus made seconds later with cramps in his leg never would have happened. And who knows? Without that momentum-shifter, perhaps the University of Michigan's 45-20 win Saturday (Sept. 15) over SMU is much closer or it is an entirely different game.
The score was 14-7 in favor of the Wolverines with the Mustangs knocking on the door at the Michigan 36-yard line, 17 seconds remaining in the first half.
"Right before that play," said Metellus, "I tapped my hat (helmet) to signal, 'Can you get somebody in for me?' He was just like, 'No, stay out there! There's just 17 seconds left.' And I was like, 'All right.' I felt my calf was about to cramp up."
Partridge caught up to Metellus on the field after his big play, put an arm around him, and shouted to him over the roar of the crowd.
"After I scored," said Metellus, "he just grabbed me and said, 'I just saved your life! You never would've got that touchdown.' I said, 'I love you, Coach!'"
Metellus jumped the passing route, and then magic ensued on the play that turned the tide.
Metellus went up and intercepted the ball thrown by quarterback Ben Hicks in front of SMU receiver James Proche along the left sideline, and immediately sprinted downfield. He picked up a convoy near midfield consisting of massive defensive linemen Aidan Hutchinson and Michael Dwumfour and outside linebacker Devin Gil.
"Once I caught the ball," said Metellus, "I knew I had three guys in front of me and I started running to make a play. Devin Gil looked at me and gave me a little head nod like, 'Let's go!' I saw him turn and knew he had the quarterback, and so I stayed down the sideline. I thought, 'I've just got to get into the end zone.'"
Hutchinson flattened a Mustang at the 37-yard line, and Dwumfour took care of another at the 15. Metellus cut to the center of the field at that point, and avoided colliding with teammate Noah Furbush at the 5-yard line.
Metellus said, "I thought at that point, after they crushed those guys, 'I'm almost there.' I knew I could cut back behind them, and so I just did. That's love, those guys blocking for me like that. I was there for them, and they were there for me."
Middle linebacker Devin Bush, who like Gil was his teammate on a state championship team at Flanagan High in Pembroke Pines, Florida, caught up to the convoy and Metellus said he also threw a key block.
"It brought back high school memories," said Metellus, one of the "Dirty Birds" at Flanagan. "Me, Bush and Gil, we all had picks, and we blocked for each other. Seeing him (Gil) right in front of me, when I caught the ball, it brought back that memory of me catching and him blocking for me."
Now it was a race to center of the end zone for Metellus, whose legs were tightening up down the stretch run.
Metellus won it, beating the last man who had a chance, SMU receiver Judah Bell, and diving in with the ball extended.
"My legs were getting heavy," said Metellus, "and so I decided to roll my shoulder at the 1-yard line. He (Bell) had to go low, and so I knew I just had to put the ball out in front of me and I would score a touchdown. He hit my leg as I was going in.
"I knew the play clock was dead and I had to do anything to score at that point. I just had to score. I was so happy to score."
Time in the first half expired just before he scored, and the fact that Metellus was able to beat the clock was very, very important.
He gave Michigan a 21-7 lead on a play that occurred when SMU was threatening to tie the game with a touchdown before halftime.
There have been only five longer pick-sixes in Wolverine history, with the longest being a 94-yarder by Brandon Herron against Western Michigan on Sept. 3, 2011.
"That means a lot," said Metellus. "This program is amazing and has been amazing, and it's going to be amazing in the future. Just to think I'm part of that history and making a play like Charles Woodson means a lot."
Woodson, for all his Heisman Trophy-winning greatness, never had a pick-six at Michigan, though.
Metellus had been flagged for pass interference on the previous play, but overcame that setback by focusing on the play at hand, cramps and all.
"I got my hands on him in man coverage," Metellus said of the previous play. "They said I held him a little too long, but I knew I was good, and that the next time I just had to keep my hands off and better anticipate the route so I can just play it.
"And sure enough, on the next play, I knew right where he was going to be taking a shot."
How was he able to turn the page so quickly?
"It's experience," said Metellus, a junior and second-year starter. "Last year, plays like that would get in my head a little bit. So, now, being an older guy, I just know you have to go after the next play.
"If you keep playing and fighting, you make up for it somehow. I guess I made up for it. I knew I had to put some points up on the ball."
Metellus chuckled about that.
So, he overcame cramps, 11 Mustangs chasing him and the previous penalty to perhaps save the day.
"I felt like that changed the whole momentum of the game," said Metellus. "Then, when we came out for the second half, we got a three-and-out."
Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson completed the second of three touchdown passes to Donovan Peoples-Jones on the ensuing third-quarter drive for a 28-7 lead. And while SMU did not go away easily, it could not get closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
Metellus also had five tackles and broke up another pass.
Bouncing back from adversity has become part of his M.O. He was ejected for targeting in the first half of the season opener at Notre Dame, but returned last week to lead Michigan with seven tackles (1.5 for losses) in a 49-3 win over Western Michigan.
Another nice touch to the SMU game for Metullus was having the Michigan softball team honored for its 2018 regular-season championship on the field during a break in the action. He dates Wolverine first baseman and pitcher Tera Blanco, who completed her career at No. 3 on the school's RBI list.
"Knowing that she's watching me makes me feel good," said Metellus, who in turn was a regular at her games at Alumni Field.
She was among the crowd of 110,549 which saw Metellus make the play of the game, seconds after he tried to come out of the game. But he caught the ball, fought off the cramps and found the end zone.
